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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not tip my hairdresser?

255 replies

MrsSatsuma · 17/03/2011 19:49

Just wondered what everybody else thinks about this - as I always go to the hairdresser on my own, I've no idea what anybody else does! I occasionally tip my hairdresser (eg if it's £37 I'll round it up to £40) but not always - came to £75 last time as I had highlights too and I didn't know what to do so just left it.

I don't want to tip and risk offence, if it's against convention, but I don't want them to think I'm mean. On the other hand it's pretty expensive! As far as I know people don't tip for other luxuries, like massages or manicures (do they?) so I assumed hairdressing was no different. I don't tip taxi drivers as a taxi ride usually cleans me out anyway! and I do usually tip in restaurants provided I've had good service.

Would love to know what others do!

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 21/03/2011 21:08

I can't afford their prices, much less a tip.

Hence, go on YouTube and search tutorials for how to cut hair.

They charge too much here.

noodle69 · 21/03/2011 21:11

Get a student to do it expat. Mine is a fiver for a cut and 7 quid for dye and highlights. Only drawback is it is usually on a weekday but if you can arrange your work hours round it then its a bargain.

expatinscotland · 21/03/2011 21:14

I live in a rural area. There's only a small college here, so no students.

I'm self-employed, so it's not hard to get in on weekdays, but it's just too dear for female haircuts.

DH goes to a barber and it's about £6.

But my hair is all one length and in a bob with a fringe and it takes just as long for his haircut as mine, so I have to do it myself.

Ditto our two daughters, long hair, all one length but for a fringe.

I bought a really good pair of scissors for about £25 and just do ours at home because it was about £25 a throw just for mine!

I cut DS's hair (he's only 2) as well.

I don't understand why they charge so much.

noodle69 · 21/03/2011 21:17

Exactly things like £60 hairdye and highlights. How the other half live!

GeneralissimoVonBobbington · 21/03/2011 22:08

I find it absolutely extraordinary the number of people who have said in this thread "I pay £X for my haircut" (and usually highlights as well) "and so I can't afford to tip on top". If you're paying nigh on a hundred quid for a haircut and colour you can bloody well afford to tip a few extra. Let's face it, highlights aren't exactly a necessity and certainly not at a hundred quid a pop.

Object to tipping because you've had bad service, or on the grounds that other people on the same wages don't get tips, those are sensible anti-tipping arguments.

But because you've already spent too much money at the hairdresser's? Sheesh!

vickster11 · 21/03/2011 22:45

I only tip £2 as they charge alot for a womans haircut. I would probably tip more if they didnt charge £38. But sometimes I forget to take change so I dont bother.

I always get embarrased by it whether I tip or not.

fairyhedgehog · 08/12/2011 14:05

This is all very useful! I usually tip £5 for a £48 hair cut at Toni & Guy's. I don't often go there because it's too expensive, usually there is a hairdresser comes and cuts my family's hair and charges £20 each (we're all adults) and I can't tip her because she won't take it! I may just give her a decent Xmas tip in a card so that she can't easily refuse.

Tomorrow I get my hair done at T&G's and on Saturday the roving hairdresser comes to cut my son and daughter-in-law's hair. I hope she won't mind that I've opted out this time.

I'm glad other people find it awkward too. I was thinking I was the only one.

valiumredhead · 08/12/2011 15:40

Arghhhh this is an old thread!

rookiemater · 08/12/2011 15:41

I tip but not 10%, when I get my highlights done with a cut that comes to £78, I will tip £5 or £2-3 for a cut at £35.
I recently discovered that if you are getting highlights on their own without a cut it costs an extra £18 to get your hair dried, as I hadn't planned to go out that night I asked that this wasn't included, but the hairdresser kindly rough dried it for me anyway, so I was happy to tip her as she saved me money ( she also agreed it was a scandal how much they charged just for a blowdry)

rookiemater · 08/12/2011 15:42

Oh gosh old thread Xmas Blush

aldiwhore · 08/12/2011 15:49

I don't tip as my friend does it, but if she tries not to charge me I always find a way of paying her, and often buy her flowers because she's truly fantastic at taming my mad hair.

BuntyCollocksHasBigBaubles · 08/12/2011 18:51

I tip my hairdresser, the girl who does my nails, the lady who does my waxing ... Find it utterly foreign someone wouldn't tip tbh

supposedtobethinking · 08/12/2011 20:29

This is an old thread but interesting to see if people are feeling even more hard up than earlier on this year!

The cost of a haircut is becoming totally unaffordable IMO (£40 for our bog standard local salon) - I'm going to have to resort to the clippers or getting DH to do it

somedayma · 08/12/2011 21:41

I tip my eyebrow lady the same cost as the shaping costs (£5) cos I love her and she's v good. In normal circumstances I don't tip 100%!

yellowraincoat · 08/12/2011 21:55

I've worked as a waitress and bar staff in lots of places (London, Glasgow, Berlin among others) and honestly, I couldn't give a rat's ass if people tip me or not. I certainly don't judge them as less generous, so I think you're wrong, Fatty.

People may not tip for a load of reasons, maybe they're skint, it's not obligatory to tip and normally I was so busy at work I didn't give it a moment's thought.

Actually, in bars, I normally thought people were giving me tips in order to try to get in my knickers.

MabelLucyAttwell · 08/12/2011 21:58

I don't tip anyone. Workers have more income than I do.

MabelLucyAttwell · 08/12/2011 21:58

PS I'm not on benefits!

jamdonut · 08/12/2011 22:09

I don't tip. My cut and blow dry cost £16, but that is all I can afford...and every 6-8 weeks!! My hairdresser usually gives me change,anyway.!) If they are not making enough money they'd soon put up the prices.

The only time I tip is at the staff xmas dinner...we round up the price of the meal, each. To be fair, they need the extra for looking after us Wink

shagmundfreud · 08/12/2011 22:58

I tipped £5 on my last £35 cut, because a) she'd done a good job and b) she made no attempt to talk to me while she was doing it. Bliss!

candytuft63 · 08/12/2011 23:20

i went for a trim at our local £5.00 a trim shop-just my fringe.took literally a minute to do but the hairdresser said oh thats a pound more because your hair is so thick i normally tip a pound for my fringe trim but cheeky bitch !
(going to get another laptop caps and punctuation weird)

thisonehasalittlecar · 08/12/2011 23:35

Help me out with this one: I tip my hairdresser, she's brillliant, but after my first few visits I realised she's actually the owner (though she doesn't charge much more than the other stylists). So have I been offending her all along? And should I stop now or would that seem like I'm suddenly not pleased?

(btw I think she's quite a bit better off than I am, from various things she's mentioned during my cuts.)

iscream · 09/12/2011 06:22

Candytuft, if you are a regular customer, most decent stylists do not charge if you pop in to have your bangs trimmed. Two have told me they prefer customers don't trim their own bangs.

As far as tipping goes, I always tip 15% for a cut. For a cut and highlights I give 20 dollars tip.

I only did not tip twice, and that was 1.because it was not my usual person and she did a really horrible job, and I had to return to have it re done the next day.

TartyMcFalalalalalalalalarty · 09/12/2011 07:02

Why, why oh why do you search out a 9-month old thread instead of starting a fresh one, fairyhedgehog?

exoticfruits · 09/12/2011 07:14

I never know why people trawl through and take a thread that the person who started it probably won't notice. 9months later is fine for starting a new one about it.

cantreachmytoes · 09/12/2011 08:13

I find it absurd to tip for good service. Surely if you're running a business you want staff to provide good service so customers/clients return! It's not my responsibility to reward good service by anything other than a return visit to the salon.

I used to live abroad where tipping was the only pay of salon staff. You would pay for your cut/treatments, then walk around the salon putting money in the pockets of everyone who had worked on you. This could be breast pockets on busty ladies and hip pockets on men. AWFUL, but socially acceptable and 100% expected.

What I hate more than anything is the pathetic, expectant look on people wanting a tip. That is a sure fire way to get me not to tip - anywhere. It is also a sure fire way of ending my patronage.

Mean, perhaps, but that's how it rolls with me.